Women In Focus
Meeting minutes
9 January 2008
Members present: Debra Booth, Gittel Price, Leigh
Kirkland, Ellen McRaney, Cindy Sheffield Michaels, Anu Vishwamitra, Denise
Savage, Jess Lee, Turner Krueger, Toni James, Kate
Lynch
New members: Toni James is a member of RPS, and
photographs everything.
Kate Thomas
has been a member of RPS for a year, and, for consistent practice, has spent
the last year working on portraits and weddings.
Business:
Cindy Sheffield
Michaels gave the treasurer’s report.
Dues
for 2008 must be paid by the March meeting or your name will be dropped from
the roll.
Posting pictures on the website costs
$25 for the initial setup; subsequent changes are $15 per change.
In
the absence of Shylah Smithey, Cindy Michaels reported on the status of WIF’s
application for 501(c)3 status:
Shylah has met with Georgia Lawyers
for the Arts (GLA), a state-wide organization providing legal advice for arts
organizations and artists. Organizations with less than $650,000 in the bank
qualify for pro bono services. We qualify.
Four steps are
required by GLA:
1.
Attending
a class on non-profits (done).
2.
Writing
Articles of Incorporation (done; see below)
3.
Filing
IRS form 1023 (with GLA’s assistance).
4.
Paying
a one time $200 fee (in process)
At this point,
a lawyer will be assigned to WIF for legal assistance for the purpose of
assisting throughout the 501c3 process.
During
this process, Shylah learned that WIF was incorporated in 2002 by previous
officers, who paid the initial registration for 2002 and the registration for
2003; currently the corporation is considered ‘dissolved’ by the State of
Total
fees for reincorporation will be around $250-$300
The whole
process of attaining non-profit status will cost about $1,100.
The Fulton County Arts Council has
another grant cycle in November for leftover money, available for general
operating expenses; we should have all the paperwork in place well in advance
of the November deadline. The regular
The members
present voted to move the February meeting from Wednesday, Feb. 13, to Tuesday,
Feb. 12, and to hold the meeting after the opening reception for the
If
you want to attend the reception, 5:00-7:00 p.m., you must individually RSVP to
Brittany Wilson at the
UPCOMING WIF SHOWS:
Our annual
show at the Margaret Mitchell Branch of the Atlanta Public Library (without Sistagraphy this year) is not to be
juried. (The board’s original reason for this to be juried was that more people
tend to submit to our juried shows.) The theme is “Decade of Light.” There is
no submission deadline. The entry form will be emailed to members.
HOWEVER,
members who want an image to be considered for the show postcard should email
ONE 300-dpi 2x3 .jpg to Gittel by FRIDAY, 18 JANUARY.
The
show will be up from March 5 through April 25. The guidelines, to be
distributed at the February meeting, will be the same as last year’s. The
number of pieces will depend on the number of participants, but probably at
least two framed images per member.
There
will be two receptions for the Library show, both on First Thursdays, 6 March
and 3 April.
October—Two
shows during Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP):
Artists’
Choice at Digital Arts Studio;
only one entry per member because of the high level of member participation and
DAS’s limited wall space.
The
annual juried show, place to be determined. Denise Savage works at
Fernbank, and will ask about holding the show there. (Critiques will be
scheduled in advance of this show.)
The deadline for the ACP program will
probably be in May, as it was last year, so members should be working on
locations for individual shows.
PROGRAM: ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
OF OUR LIKES AND DISLIKES FROM 2007, AND OUR HOPES AND DESIRES for 2008: (Every
one present had to speak.)
Overall, what was expressed was a
desire for more communication to allow stronger relationships between members,
more discussion of questions, interests, and problems (issues?) with our own
photography, and—especially—more sharing of each others’ images.
Some means for achieving these goals
follow; for the most part, this will take action on the part of
members—obviously, and perhaps luckily, relationships can’t be handed down from
the WIF board.
Any dues-paying member should send an
e-mail to women_in_focus-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
to subscribe to the WIF Yahoo! group. ONLY members can access this list.
Leigh Kirkland would like:
More
critiques, perhaps ‘harder’ (meaner?) ones
More
lateral communication, which I/she thought might be accomplished by the WIF
Yahoo! group, but that hasn’t materialized (yet).
For
fun: A one-night members-only show of pictures taken with cell phone or
disposal cameras, to level the technological playing field. (The idea
originally came from Jane Conboy.)
She
will check to see that the Yahoo! group is linked on our website.
Ellen McRaney:
Liked hearing Susan Todd-Raque; she’s
a good judge and a good speaker.
More shows. (I assume this meant more
WIF-member shows.)
More field trips
More showing of our work (to each
other and to others)
Debra Booth:
Liked Audrey
Goolrick’s critique, because she was tougher than John Clemmer, who was nicer
than might have been useful.
More outings
Likes the idea of
using the Yahoo! group for the exchange of ideas and information.
More informal
sharing of images, perhaps passing around small photos before or after meetings
each month, or at some other time and place. However it is to be done,
we need to create a space for sharing.
Toni James:
Thought the coolest thing WIF has done
was the Georgia to Georgia show, which consisted of 6 or 7 exhibits.
Gittel
noted that we’re still in contact with the other
Turner Krueger:
More learning;
that’s why she’s here.
Liked critiques; even without
submitting her own images she learned a lot.
Wants a way to know other women in the
group; perhaps the Yahoo! group could facilitate this, or some sort of social
gathering every month or so.
Wants to know more about what the
other members DO (photographically speaking). Could a line be added to the
directory to indicate this in some way? Whether people are professionals or
committed amateurs, what their interests are, etc. (EMAIL CINDY MICHAELS ABOUT
ADDING A LINE TO THE DIRECTORY TO INCLUDE THIS INFORMATION.)
Jess Lee:
More feedback and critiques
Likes the idea of
using the Yahoo! group for questions about photography.
Denise Savage:
She’s in classes with Dean Stevenson
at Showcase, and has been on shooting field trips with Larry Winslett. She
hasn’t ever shown her work.
Would like a workshop on Photoshop
(others suggested Mark Johnson at www.radiantvista.com
who posts tips every Thursday, and Craig Tanner, who also gives workshops and
has a strong web presence at http://www.craigtannercreative.com).
Field trip for
shooting in low light.
Would like to shadow
a wedding photographer.
Anu Vishwamitra:
More critique (she’s afraid of it, but
wants it)
More field trips
Would like to see
more members’ photos.
René D. Abney (through Gittel):
Would like a photo-transfer workshop
(which Gittel teaches at
Shylah Smithey (via e-mail):
These are my own (long, sorry) comments regarding the round table discussion: I really liked Susan's talk after she attended AIPAD the past two years. It's a bit like a State of the Union for photography. AIPAD is in April, so I would like it if we could schedule her to speak sometime between then and ACP. On the subject of field trips, could any of our advisors get us into any more collections? Personal or corporate? It has been my experience with Ron Hughes at Composition that he is very upfront and honest about both what he likes and what he doesn't. I think he would be an interesting critique judge. I did a portfolio review with Lisa Kurzner during ACP and I would love to have her as a critique judge, or better yet, as a juror. Regarding more sharing of member images, I think it would be fun to have "show and tell" for a meeting one month (for lack of a better term.) Lay everything out like a portfolio walk and just let everyone spend a couple of hours walking around looking at work, trading work, etc. That would also meet the request of doing more social things within the membership. I know that we get whatever they have available at Emory for our meetings, but could we call in advance one month and request that we get whatever the largest option is that they have available on our meeting day? If we make it a point to ask, they may have something like the room where we have taken in ACP images the past couple of years available and let us use it. I also think GA to GA is the neatest show WIF has had since I joined. I would like to make it a priority once we have the 501c3 because it would be a great annual project to apply for grant money to fund. Especially if we make it a big Women's History Month thing like we did before. For the person who wanted to know more about what other members do, I would like to add a couple of questions to the membership form. Maybe one technical and one subject matter where people check off all that apply. Technical things like darkroom, digital, large format, Polaroid processes, hand-coloring, etc. The usual basic subject matter categories. Also remind members to go through the website to look at images and contact other members whose work they like.I know I have a couple of good things around here about critiquing photographs...will look for those. Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images by Terry Barrett is a good little book that has been out for years and you can buy older editions of it on www.half.com for well under $10. Maybe mention that at the next meeting for anyone who would be interested.
Fay Gold should not be doing APG again until 2009. If she will not do our ACP show, Lisa Kurzner would be my best suggestion. Another Thursday night field trip to the High would be great if Julian is willing and has time. I would also like a night shooting workshop. I was going to sign up at Showcase a couple of times, and they were always full. Who teaches the ones there? Anyone we could get?
General discussion: The possibility of blind critique by
members, a kind of workshop, perhaps with pictures lined up anonymously along
the wall, to be commented on by members. Kate Thomas suggested that guidelines
for critiquing photographs would be very useful; would help in looking for
specific things to say about photographs. (Leigh is currently searching the web
for such guidelines to adapt for our use.)
UPCOMING MEETINGS
February
at
March: Susan
Todd-Raque to advise us on what to look for in photographs (in advance of
self-critique/workshop).
April: Blind
critique by members of our own photographs. Some sort of format for
accomplishing this will be worked out in advance.
May: Michael
Schwartz, now in
Gittel
reported that the membership continues to grow.
She
would like to have members’ suggestions for judges. Toni suggested Michael
Schwartz. Jane Jackson was suggested, but apparently she is not gregarious; Fay
Gold is the same, but Gittel would like for her to judge our October show
(unless she’s doing the APG show [According
to the ACP program, Fay Gold did the APG show in 2007; Jane Jackson in 2006. LK).
Our
advisors are Susan Todd Racque, Lucinda Bunnen, who is also a member, and Judy
Lampert.
Field
trips to date have mostly been ‘scholarly’—attending lectures, collections,
etc. Julian Cox at the High has taken us through exhibits as well.
Shooting field trips people would like: Shooting dance, especially ballet -
Toni). Doesn’t Val Gruner work with the Atlanta Ballet? Denise again mentioned
weddings, and low-light shooting. Several members are interested in shooting
Discussion of photo paper: Gittel’s favorite is Epson Art Velvet;
it’s like watercolor paper. Ellen likes matte, velvet, and watercolor paper.
Could the local guy that Gittel knows
from
Ink and paper
are discounted at Showcase.
Respectfully
submitted,
Leigh Kirkland